Review: Thanos: A God Up There Listening #1 (Marvel Comics)

Like many of Marvel’s characters who have transitioned to the big screen, the Marvel Cosmic’s deadliest bad guy Thanos has received his own title, which is now being released under their Infinite comics stable. But can Thanos: A God Up There Listening #1 dominate the Infinite universe or is that something not even the Infinity Gauntlet can help it achieve?

The first issue of Thanos: A God Up There Listening begins a tale no one can really expect from the title as the story focuses on Thane, the Inhuman son of Thanos who was introduced during the recent Infinity event. While mourning the loss of his home, the city of Orollan, Thane is approached by Ebony Maw, a disciple of Thanos, with an interesting invitation; to travel the stars and seek out a being who can show him a first hand account of The Mad Titan’s past deeds so that Thane may take his rightful place as the Heir to Thanos.

Unfortunately, for a mini series which is named after on one of the Marvel universes most powerful characters, this issue comes across as somewhat weak. There is very little focus on the actual character of Thanos, instead focusing on his recently revealed progeny, and even then, very little of Thane’s personality shines through. Thane is a pretty blank character who shows little reason for the reader to actually care about his adventure. We can only hope this improves in future issues or else we might not make it to the end of the 6 issue run.

Fortunately, the art is the books saving grace as the beautiful, vibrant images and sharp pencils which never look to falter are grade A work which makes the struggle of reading that much easier. The highlight of the book though is is Mast and Geoffo’s storyboards which, like many of the titles within the Infinite Comics universe, utilizes the digital technology’s guided view in a way that infers seamless movements from panel to panel, in some cases almost mimicking how a motion comic appears.

While the Infinite elements and artwork are both excellent, it is not enough to make up for the slow, cumbersome beginnings of this story. While the end teases the possibility of an improvement next episode with the introduction of Thanos as more of a lead character, unless more is done to make Thane interesting, this series could considered be one to avoid.